DOCSLIB.ORG

Everyday Taxi Drivers: Do Better Navigators Have Larger Hippocampi? RUNNING TITLE: EVERYDAY TAXI DRIVERS

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Everyday Taxi Drivers: Do Better Navigators Have Larger Hippocampi? RUNNING TITLE: EVERYDAY TAXI DRIVERS bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/431155; this version posted January 2, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. Title: Everyday taxi drivers: Do better navigators have larger hippocampi? RUNNING TITLE: EVERYDAY TAXI DRIVERS Steven M. Weisberga, Nora S. Newcombeb, & Anjan Chatterjeec aUniversity of Pennsylvania, bTemple University Steven M. Weisberg ([email protected]), Anjan Chatterjee ([email protected]), Department of Neurology, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104. Nora S. Newcombe ([email protected]), Department of Psychology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA 19122. Declarations of interest: none Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Steven M. Weisberg, at Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104 USA. Email: [email protected]. Phone: 610-212-3113. bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/431155; this version posted January 2, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. EVERYDAY TAXI DRIVERS 1 Abstract Work with non-human animals and human navigation experts (London taxi drivers) suggests that the size of the hippocampus, particularly the right posterior hippocampus in humans, relates to navigation expertise. Similar observations, sometimes implicating other sections of the hippocampus, have been made for aging populations and for people with neurodegenerative diseases that affect the hippocampus. These data support the hypothesis that hippocampal volume relates to navigation ability. However, the support for this hypothesis is mixed in healthy, young adults, who range widely in their navigation ability. Here, we administered a naturalistic navigation task that measures cognitive map accuracy to a sample of 90 healthy, young adults who also had MRI scans. Using a sequential analysis design with a registered analysis plan, we did not find that navigation ability related to hippocampal volume (total, right only, right posterior only). We conclude that navigation ability in a typical population does not correlate with variations in hippocampal size, and consider possible explanations for this null result. Keywords: hippocampus, human behavior, spatial cognition, spatial navigation, structural MRI Abbreviations: ASHS – Automatic Segmentation of Hippocampal Subfields BF – Bayes Factor ERC – Entorhinal cortex MRT – Mental rotation test OSF – Open Science Framework PHC – Parahippocampal cortex SAQ – Spatial anxiety questionnaire SBSOD – Santa Barbara sense of direction scale WRAT-4 – Wide range achievement test 4 – verbal bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/431155; this version posted January 2, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. EVERYDAY TAXI DRIVERS 2 1. Introduction Spatial navigation is a fundamental problem faced by any mobile organism. This ability is supported in part by the hippocampus, which is theorized to construct a cognitive map – knowledge of the distances and directions between landmarks (O’Keefe & Nadel, 1978; Tolman, 1948). Evidence for the role of the hippocampus in navigation comes from functional neural data across a wide range of levels of analysis. At the single-cell level, place cells in the hippocampus fire when an animal is in a certain location (Ekstrom et al., 2003; O’Keefe & Nadel, 1978). At the voxel level, fMRI reveals that the patterns of voxels in the hippocampus map to information about spatial distance (Vass & Epstein, 2013). At the whole hippocampus anatomic level, fMRI reveals that the hippocampus is more active during active navigation than passive travel or when following a familiar route (e.g., Hartley et al. 2003). So, neuronal activity in the hippocampus is consistent with the hypothesis that the hippocampus constructs a cognitive map. Intriguingly, there is reason to suppose that variations in the structure and function of hippocampus may relate to variations in navigation abilities. Maguire and colleagues (2000; 2006) showed that the right posterior hippocampus was enlarged in taxi drivers from London, who memorize an enormous catalog of spatial information and navigate easily around the complex layout of London. Further work showed that elderly taxi drivers who were still driving taxis had enlarged right posterior hippocampi compared to elderly taxi drivers who had stopped (Woollett, Spiers, & Maguire, 2009). Although this work on taxi drivers presented among the first data to show a correlation between hippocampal volume and aspects of navigation behavior, the sample sizes were small (less than 20 participants in most studies). And despite making claims about increased right posterior hippocampal volume and decreased right anterior hippocampal volume in taxi drivers, the researchers did not test the key interaction between bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/431155; this version posted January 2, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. EVERYDAY TAXI DRIVERS 3 posterior and anterior hippocampal volume between taxi drivers and controls, rendering this conclusion unsupported by the data. Nevertheless, complementary research in non-human animals has supported the notion that larger hippocampi are associated with better navigation (Sherry, Jacobs, & Gaulin, 1992). Importantly, changes in hippocampal size may occur within an animal’s lifespan. Male meadow voles, for example, show cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus concomitant with hippocampal volume increases in the breeding season (when males have greater spatial navigation requirements) compared to the non-breeding season (Galea & McEwen, 1999). Similarly, compromise of the hippocampus is associated with spatial navigation deficits. Poor spatial navigation occurs in patients with Alzheimer’s disease (Deipolyi, Rankin, Mucke, Miller, & Gorno-Tempini, 2007; Konishi et al., 2018; Moodley et al., 2015; Plancher, Tirard, Gyselinck, Nicolas, & Piolino, 2012), patients with brain lesions (Kolarik, Baer, Shahlaie, Yonelinas, & Ekstrom, 2018; Rosenbaum et al., 2000; Smith & Milner, 1981) and in the elderly (Konishi, Mckenzie, Etcharnendy, Roy, & Bohbot, 2017; Moodley et al., 2015). These groups show reduced hippocampal volume, suggesting that a healthy hippocampus is critical for normal spatial navigation function. Collectively, this body of literature seems to make a powerful case for an association between hippocampal volume and navigation. However, evidence from healthy young adults is more mixed. Some research studies are positive. First, there are findings that hippocampal volume correlates with specific navigationally-relevant spatial tasks, notably perspective taking. (in which an unseen view must be imagined). Perspective taking correlates with spatial memory for large-scale environments (Weisberg & Newcombe, 2016) and elicits neural activation in the hippocampus (Lambrey, Doeller, Berthoz, & Burgess, 2012). Hartley and Harlow (2012) created a perspective-taking task in which participants match an image of three-dimensional mountains bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/431155; this version posted January 2, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. EVERYDAY TAXI DRIVERS 4 to an image of the same mountains range viewed from a different perspective while ignoring similar-looking foils. Accuracy on this task correlated with bilateral hippocampal volume. Sherrill and colleagues (2018) measured participant’s ability to find a goal from first-person and map perspectives after viewing a map with their position and the position of the goal. Accuracy in the first-person condition correlated with bilateral posterior hippocampal volume. Second, hippocampal volume correlates with specific strategies used by healthy young adults when navigating. Bohbot and colleagues measured spatial navigation strategy using a task in which the direction to goals could be based on which response should be made (e.g., to one’s right; thought to rely on the caudate nucleus), or based on each goal’s position relative to external landmarks (e.g., the church is to the right of the school; thought to rely on the hippocampus), independent of success at finding a goal. They found large positive correlations with hippocampal volume and the number of goals found relative to external landmarks (Bohbot, Lerch, Thorndycraft, Iaria, & Zijdenbos, 2007). Third, using a self-report measure of navigation ability, two studies with large samples reported correlations with hippocampal volume, although the effect sizes were modest (Hao et al., 2016; Wegman et al., 2014). None of these approaches is direct, however. Perspective
Load more

Recommended publications
  • RELIGIOUS BELIEFS COMPENSATE for PURPOSE When
    RELIGIOUS BELIEFS COMPENSATE FOR PURPOSE 1 When God is your only friend: Religious beliefs compensate for purpose in life in the socially disconnected Todd Chan, Nicholas Michalak, & Oscar Ybarra Department of Psychology University of Michigan 530 Church St., Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1043 Author notes Data and materials are available at osf.io/h6wuv. Corresponding Author: Todd Chan ([email protected]) RELIGIOUS BELIEFS COMPENSATE FOR PURPOSE 2 Abstract Objective: Social relationships supply purpose to life. How can socially disconnected people, who show lower levels of purpose, compensate for purpose in life? We propose that religious beliefs can compensate for the purpose in life that social relationships would otherwise provide, through (a) providing greater purpose to turn to, and (b) providing divine figures that can substitute for social relationships. Method: In three studies, we analyze three nationally representative and longitudinal datasets (N = 19775) using moderated regression and cross- lagged panel analyses. Results: Consistent with our hypotheses, religious beliefs were of minimal influence on purpose in life for socially connected individuals, who already held higher levels of purpose than socially disconnected individuals. However, for socially disconnected individuals, being highly religious predicted higher levels of purpose in life. Conclusions: Results suggest that although people primarily derive purpose from social relationships, socially disconnected individuals may leverage their religious beliefs for purpose and social comfort until they can reconnect. Keywords: religion; loneliness; social disconnection; interpersonal relationships; purpose RELIGIOUS BELIEFS COMPENSATE FOR PURPOSE 3 When God is your only friend: Religious beliefs compensate for purpose in life in the socially disconnected Purpose drives people forward. To have purpose means people feel that their life consists of plans, goals, and direction that make life worth living (Reker, Peacock, & Wong, 1987).
    [Show full text]
  • Prosopagnosia with Topographical Difficulties 1
    CORE Metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk Provided by Bournemouth University Research Online Prosopagnosia with topographical difficulties 1 Running Head: PROSOPAGNOSIA WITH TOPOGRAPHICAL DIFFICULTIES Developmental Prosopagnosia with Concurrent Topographical Difficulties: A Case Report and Virtual Reality Training Programme Sarah Bate, Amanda Adams, Rachel Bennetts & Hannah Line Department of Psychology, Bournemouth University, UK Word count: 6858 Address for correspondence: Dr Sarah Bate Department of Psychology Faculty of Science and Technology Poole House Bournemouth University Fern Barrow Poole BH12 5BB United Kingdom Telephone: +44 (0) 1202 961918 Fax: +44 (0) 1202 965314 Email: [email protected] Prosopagnosia with topographical difficulties 2 Abstract Several neuropsychological case studies report brain-damaged individuals with concurrent impairments in face recognition (i.e. prosopagnosia) and topographical orientation. Recently, individuals with a developmental form of topographical disorientation have also been described, and several case reports of individuals with developmental prosopagnosia provide anecdotal evidence of concurrent navigational difficulties. Clearly, the co-occurrence of these difficulties can exacerbate the negative psychosocial consequences associated with each condition. This paper presents the first detailed case report of an individual (FN) with developmental prosopagnosia alongside difficulties in topographical orientation. FN’s performance on an extensive navigational battery indicated
    [Show full text]
  • The Brain Compass: a Perspective on How Self-Motion Updates the Head Direction Cell Attractor
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/189464; this version posted September 17, 2017. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. The brain compass: a perspective on how self-motion updates the head direction cell attractor Jean Laurens, Dora E. Angelaki Dept. of Neuroscience, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA This study was supported by National Institutes of Health grants R21 NS098146 and R01- DC004260. Address for correspondence: Angelaki, Dora Department of Neuroscience Baylor College of Medicine One Baylor Plaza Houston, TX 77030 Office: (713) 798-1469 E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT Head Direction cells form an internal compass that signals head azimuth orientation even in the absence of visual landmarks. It is well accepted that head direction properties are generated through a ring attractor that is updated using rotation self-motion cues. The properties and origin of this self-motion velocity drive remain, however, unknown. We propose a unified, quantitative framework whereby the attractor velocity input represents a multisensory self-motion estimate computed through an internal model that uses sensory prediction error based on vestibular, visual, and somatosensory cues to improve on-line motor drive. We show how context- dependent strength of recurrent connections within the attractor itself, rather than the self- motion input, explain differences in head direction cell firing between free foraging and restrained movements. We also summarize recent findings on how head tilt relative to gravity influences the azimuth coding of head direction cells, and explain why and how these effects reflect an updating self-motion velocity drive that is not purely egocentric.
    [Show full text]
  • The Three Meanings of Meaning in Life: Distinguishing Coherence, Purpose, and Significance
    The Journal of Positive Psychology Dedicated to furthering research and promoting good practice ISSN: 1743-9760 (Print) 1743-9779 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rpos20 The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance Frank Martela & Michael F. Steger To cite this article: Frank Martela & Michael F. Steger (2016) The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance, The Journal of Positive Psychology, 11:5, 531-545, DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2015.1137623 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1137623 Published online: 27 Jan 2016. Submit your article to this journal Article views: 425 View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rpos20 Download by: [Colorado State University] Date: 06 July 2016, At: 11:55 The Journal of Positive Psychology, 2016 Vol. 11, No. 5, 531–545, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2015.1137623 The three meanings of meaning in life: Distinguishing coherence, purpose, and significance Frank Martelaa* and Michael F. Stegerb,c aFaculty of Theology, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 4, Helsinki 00014, Finland; bDepartment of Psychology, Colorado State University, 1876 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1876, USA; cSchool of Behavioural Sciences, North-West University, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa (Received 25 June 2015; accepted 3 December 2015) Despite growing interest in meaning in life, many have voiced their concern over the conceptual refinement of the con- struct itself. Researchers seem to have two main ways to understand what meaning in life means: coherence and pur- pose, with a third way, significance, gaining increasing attention.
    [Show full text]
  • Direction Giving and Following 1 Running Head
    Direction giving and following 1 Running head: DIRECTION GIVING AND FOLLOWING Direction Giving and Following in the Service of Wayfinding in a Complex Indoor Environment Alycia M. Hund and Amanda J. Padgitt Illinois State University Direction giving and following 2 Abstract We examined how sense of direction, descriptive feature content, and gender relate to direction giving and following during wayfinding in a complex indoor environment. In Experiment 1, participants provided directions to destinations. Participants with a good sense of direction provided more distances, marginally more correct descriptions, and marginally fewer straight references than those with a poor sense of direction. In Experiment 2, participants rated the effectiveness of these directions. Directions that were rated highly contained more descriptive features than did directions that were rated less highly. In open-ended responses, positive mentions of landmarks and negative mentions of cardinal descriptors were frequent. In Experiment 3, participants navigated faster when following the worst-rated directions than when following the best-rated directions. Keywords: wayfinding, sense of direction, direction giving, direction following Direction giving and following 3 Direction Giving and Following in the Service of Wayfinding in a Complex Indoor Environment Finding our way through the environment is essential to human functioning. Often, people give and follow directions to facilitate wayfinding. For example, a college freshman may ask another student or a university staff member how to get to a classroom or office in a campus building. It is no surprise that spatial skills and strategies differ across individuals (e.g., Hegarty, Montello, Richardson, Ishikawa, & Lovelace, 2006; Kato & Takeuchi, 2003; Lawton, 1996; Prestopnik & Roskos-Ewoldsen, 2000).
    [Show full text]
  • Human Sense of Direction and Wayfinding
    Human Sense of Direction and Wayfinding Edward H. Cornell, Autumn Sorenson, and Teresa Mio Department of Psychology, University of Alberta One of the oldest beliefs about human wayfinding is that some people have a natural ability that distinguishes them from others. In four experiments, we asked adults to rate their own sense of direction, a promising index of orientation skills despite its simplicity and reliance on self-assessment. There were small to moderate correlations between self-ratings and accuracy of pointing to imagined landmarks, accuracy of path choices during a route reversal and detour, speed at executing shortcuts, and accuracy of choices of halls within a building complex. Although we did not find consistent gender differences in actual wayfinding, effects across experiments indicate that females rated their sense of direction as worse than males. Deliberations by females may have affected the speed of some of their performances. The results suggest that self-evaluation of sense of direction is associated with evaluation of one’s familiarity with features of particular environments, as well as memories of successes and failures in recent wayfinding efforts. Key Words: orientation, spatial cognition, wayfinding. ver a century has passed since the construct of a outside. Table 1 previews the different experimental human sense of direction began to be described paradigms and predictions that groups with self-ratings of O in scientific literature (Darwin, in Romanes a good sense of direction (GSOD) are better at orienting 1883). As we shall see, having a sense of direction has been and wayfinding than groups with self-ratings of a poor associated with an ability to discriminate fine-grained sense of direction (PSOD).
    [Show full text]
  • Improving Cognitive Mapping by Training for People with a Poor Sense of Direction Toru Ishikawa1,2* and Yiren Zhou1
    Ishikawa and Zhou Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications (2020) 5:39 Cognitive Research: Principles https://doi.org/10.1186/s41235-020-00238-1 and Implications ORIGINAL ARTICLE Open Access Improving cognitive mapping by training for people with a poor sense of direction Toru Ishikawa1,2* and Yiren Zhou1 Abstract The skill of spatial learning and orientation is fundamental in humans and differs widely among individuals. Despite its importance, however, the malleability of this skill through practice has scarcely been studied empirically, in contrast to psychometric spatial ability. Thus, this article examines the possibility of improving the accuracy of configurational understanding of the environment by training. A total of 40 adults with a poor sense of direction participated in the experiment; and were randomly assigned to either a condition in which they received feedback only or a condition in which they additionally practiced allocentric spatial updating. Participants walked one route in each session, once a week for 6 weeks, and conducted spatial tasks designed to assess their knowledge of the route. A total of 20 people with an average sense of direction also participated as a comparison group. Results showed that training in allocentric spatial updating improved the accuracy of direction estimates, although the size of the effect was limited: the improvement was not large enough to equate the performance in the groups with a poor versus average sense of direction. The two groups, however, did not differ in spatial skill in mental rotation or path integration. Feedback was effective for improving accuracy in straight-line distance estimates and sketch maps: repeated trials with feedback led to improved accuracy by the sixth session to a level comparable to the group with an average sense of direction.
    [Show full text]
  • The Psychology of Purpose
    The Psychology of Purpose February 2018 Created by the members of the Adolescent Moral Development Lab at Claremont Graduate University for Prosocial Consulting and the John Templeton Foundation 1 Table of Contents I. Defining Purpose ......................................................................................................................................... 3 II. Measuring Purpose .................................................................................................................................... 6 III. The Benefits of Purpose ........................................................................................................................ 10 IV. The Development of Purpose ................................................................................................................ 13 V. Fostering Purpose ..................................................................................................................................... 17 VI. Purpose Among Diverse Groups ........................................................................................................... 22 VII. Annotated Bibliography ........................................................................................................................ 27 2 I. DEFINING PURPOSE The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well. – Ralph Waldo Emerson You probably have your own conception of what a purpose in life
    [Show full text]
  • The Navigation System of the Brain 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology Or Medicine
    GENERAL ¨ ARTICLE The Navigation System of the Brain 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine Prasanna Venkhatesh V “It is fair to say that, in general, no problems have been exhausted; instead, men have been exhausted by the prob- lems. Soil that appears impoverished to one researcher re- veals its fertility to another. Fresh talent approaching the analysis of a problem without prejudice will always see new possibilities – some aspect not considered by those who believe that a subject is fully understood. Our knowledge is so frag- Prasanna Venkhatesh V is currently a graduate mentary that unexpected findings appear in even the most student at the Center for fully explored topics. We must bear in mind that because Neuroscience working with science relentlessly differentiates, the minutiae of today often Aditya Murthy. He is become important principles tomorrow.” working on voluntary control of reaching and – Santiago Ramon y Cajal pointing movements. His research interests include The ability to navigate in space is one of the fundamental func- movement control, neural basis of animal behaviour, tions of the brain. It depends on the ability to have a sense of optogenetics and social position which in turn is interlinked with the sense of direction, neuroscience. distance and the knowledge of the earlier positions through which one has travelled. You depend on it for your everyday activities ranging from finding your car in a parking lot to commuting to your workplace. The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to John O’Keefe, May-Britt Moser and Edvard Moser for their discoveries of nerve cells in the brain that consti- tute a positioning system that enables one to have a sense of position and navigation (Figure 1).
    [Show full text]
  • Introducing Neuropsychology, Second Edition
    Introducing Neuropsychology Introducing Neuropsychology, second edition investi- edition, key topics are dealt with in separate focus gates the functions of the brain and explores the boxes, and “interim comment” sections allow the relationships between brain systems and human reader a chance to “take stock” at regular intervals. behaviour. The material is presented in a jargon-free, The book assumes no particular expertise on easy to understand manner and aims to guide the reader’s part in either psychology or brain students new to the field through current areas of physiology. Thus, it will be of great interest not only research. to those studying neuropsychology and cognitive Following a brief history of the discipline and a neuroscience, but also to medical and nursing description of methods in neuropsychology, the students, and indeed anyone who is interested in remaining chapters review traditional and recent learning about recent progress in understanding research findings. Both cognitive and clinical aspects brain–behaviour relationships. of neuropsychology are addressed to illustrate the advances scientists are making (on many fronts) in John Stirling has worked at Manchester Polytechnic/ their quest to understand brain–behaviour relation- MMU for over 30 years, teaching Bio- and Neuro- ships in both normal and disturbed functioning. The psychology, Psychopathology and Experimental rapid developments in neuropsychology and cogni- Design and Statistics. He has published over 30 tive neuroscience resulting from traditional research scientific journal articles, and three books. methods as well as new brain-imaging techniques are presented in a clear and straightforward way. Each Rebecca Elliott has worked at the University of chapter has been fully revised and updated and new Manchester for 8 years, using brain-imaging tech- brain-imaging data are incorporated throughout, niques to study emotion and cognition in psychiatric especially in the later chapters on Emotion and disorders.
    [Show full text]
  • Synesthesia: Phenomenology and Neuropsychology a Review of Current Knowledge
    Synesthesia: Phenomenology And Neuropsychology A Review of Current Knowledge Richard E. Cytowic 4720 Blagden Terrace, NW Washington DC 20011-3720 USA [email protected] Copyright (c) Richard E. Cytowic 1995 PSYCHE, 2(10), July 1995 http://psyche.cs.monash.edu.au/v2/psyche-2-10-cytowic.html KEYWORDS: consciousness, emotion, perception, subjectivity, synesthesia, neurology. ABSTRACT: Synesthesia (Greek, syn = together + aisthesis = perception) is the involuntary physical experience of a cross-modal association. That is, the stimulation of one sensory modality reliably causes a perception in one or more different senses. Its phenomenology clearly distinguishes it from metaphor, literary tropes, sound symbolism, and deliberate artistic contrivances that sometimes employ the term "synesthesia" to describe their multisensory joinings. An unexpected demographic and cognitive constellation co-occurs with synesthesia: females and non-right-handers predominate, the trait is familial, and memory is superior while math and spatial navigation suffer. Synesthesia appears to be a left-hemisphere function that is not cortical in the conventional sense. The hippocampus is critical for its experience. Five clinical features comprise its diagnosis. Synesthesia is "abnormal" only in being statistically rare. It is, in fact, a normal brain process that is prematurely displayed to consciousness in a minority of individuals. 1. Introduction 1.1 Although medicine has known about synesthesia for three centuries, it keeps forgetting that it knows. After decades of neglect, a revival of inquiry is under way. As in earlier times, today's interest is multidisciplinary. Neuroscience is particularly curious this time - or at least it should be - because of what synesthesia might tell us about consciousness, the nature of reality, and the relationship between reason and emotion.
    [Show full text]
  • Intuitive Direction Concepts
    Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication Volume 10 Perspectives on Spatial Cognition Article 3 2015 Intuitive Direction Concepts Alexander Klippel Pennsylvania State University Jan Oliver Wallgrün Pennsylvania State University Jinlong Yang San Diego State University See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://newprairiepress.org/biyclc Part of the Cognition and Perception Commons, and the Other Linguistics Commons This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License. Recommended Citation Klippel, Alexander; Wallgrün, Jan Oliver; Yang, Jinlong; and Sparks, Kevin (2015) "Intuitive Direction Concepts," Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication: Vol. 10. https://doi.org/ 10.4148/1944-3676.1103 This Proceeding of the Symposium for Cognition, Logic and Communication is brought to you for free and open access by the Conferences at New Prairie Press. It has been accepted for inclusion in Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication by an authorized administrator of New Prairie Press. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Intuitive Direction Concepts Authors Alexander Klippel, Jan Oliver Wallgrün, Jinlong Yang, and Kevin Sparks This proceeding of the symposium for cognition, logic and communication is available in Baltic International Yearbook of Cognition, Logic and Communication: https://newprairiepress.org/biyclc/vol10/iss1/3 Intuitive Direction Concepts 2 The Baltic International Yearbook of 1. INTRODUCTION Cognition, Logic and Communication Direction relations between locations or objects in space are considered December 2015 Volume 10: Perspectives on Spatial Cognition fundamental to human spatial cognition (e.g., van der Zee & Eshuis pages 1-30 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4148/1944-3676.1103 2003).
    [Show full text]